Fight / Beat Someone

This is how to express the act of fighting in Chinese. Generally this means fighting against someone or some force whether physically or metaphorically.

Note: There is more than one way to write this character. You will notice variations on the next page after you click "Select and Customize". If you have a preference, please let us know when you place your order.

Please note that there is a secondary pronunciation and meaning of this character. It can also mean "measuring cup" or in Japanese "sake dipper" or even "The Big Dipper". In Japanese and Korean, this does not have the fighting meaning associated with it. You should therefor select this character only if your audience is Chinese, or you are a big fan of sake dippers or The Big Dipper (as that is how it will be read by Japanese and Korean people).

Fighting Spirit

The Will to Fight

dòu zhì

This literally means fighting spirit. As in the spirit that a warrior, soldier, athlete or fighter must possess.

Note: There is more than one way to write the first character of this word. It is sometimes written like the version shown to the right (yes, it's completely different, but has the same meaning & pronunciation). If you have a preference, please let us know in the special instructions about your order.

Fighting Spirit

tou shi

This literally means "fighting spirit" or "the will to fight". As in the spirit that a warrior, soldier, athlete or fighter must possess.

Fighting Spirit

Alternate Japanese version

tou kon

This is an alternate title with the meaning "fighting spirit" or "the will to fight".

Fighting Spirit

tou ki

This is an alternate Japanese title for "fighting spirit". This one is more like "fighting energy". The second character is "ki" the same "ki" in Aikido. This "ki" is the spiritual energy that all martial arts practitioners must master and focus.

Fight for a Goal

This is the way to express the idea of fighting for a goal. It can also mean to struggle or to argue. This is okay for a Chinese audience, and while it is a word in Korean, this character is seldom seen alone in Korean grammar.

Hand-to-Hand Fighting / Grappling

Kakuto

kakutou / kakuto

This Japanese word means hand-to-hand fighting, grappling, or scuffling.

In the old days, this might refer to a street fight, but now it can apply to martial arts and MMA techniques or bouts.

Sometimes written as 挌闘 instead of 格闘 (first Kanji varies slightly)

Boxing

This is the term used in Chinese to refer to the original Olympic sport of combat and fighting. If you like to strap on your boxing gloves and go a few rounds, or are just a fan of boxing, this could make a nice wall scroll for you.

Note that Japanese use the same first character (which means fist) but a different Kanji for the second. Please see our Japanese boxing entry for that version.

Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks

This Chinese proverb means "Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks". More directly-translated, it reads, "[Overcome] a hundred setbacks, without flinching". This is of Chinese origin, but is commonly used in Japanese, and somewhat in Korean (same characters, different pronunciation).

This proverb comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan and he never stooped to flattery, but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest he resigned his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads "Bai Zhe Bu Nao" which is now a proverb used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strength will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

Although the first two characters are translated correctly as "repeated setbacks", the literal meaning is "100 setbacks" or "a rope that breaks 100 times". The last two characters can mean "do not yield" or "do not give up".
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will not take this absolutely literal meaning, but will instead understand it as the title suggests above. If you want a single big word definition, it would be indefatigability, indomitableness, persistence, or unyielding.

Strive / Struggle

fèn dòu

This means strive (as in to put great effort into something or a cause). It can also be translated as struggle.

The second character of this word can also be written as shown to the right. Yes. it's very different. If you want this alternate version, just let us know when you place your order (in the special instructions).

Strive / Struggle

fun tou

This is the Japanese version of a word that means strive (as in to put great effort into something or a cause). It can also be translated as struggle. There's a very similar version used in Chinese with same meaning.

Value of Warrior Generals

bīng zài jīng ér bú zài duō jiàng zài móu ér bú zài yǒng

This literally means: [Just as] soldiers/warriors [are valued for their] quality and not [just] for quantity, [so] generals [are valued] for their tactics, not [just] for [their] bravery.

This is a proverb that follows one about how it is better to have warriors of quality, rather than just a large quantity of warriors in your army/force.

War

This is often used to title various wars. For instance, if you add the character for "2" before this character, you have the Chinese title for WWII.

In certain context, someone can use this word to mean campaign, game, or match.

Note: In Japan, they tend to use the form shown to the right. If you pick the Japanese master calligrapher, you may get/request this version. It should also be noted that this Kanji is seldom used alone in Japanese.

Buy some related in-stock artwork?

The scroll that I am holding in this picture is a "medium size"4-character wall scroll.As you can see, it is a great size to hang on your wall.(We also offer custom wall scrolls in larger sizes)

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.

Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also
attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over
6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers
in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt
such a feat.

Some people may refer to this entry as Fight Kanji, Fight Characters, Fight in Mandarin Chinese, Fight Characters, Fight in Chinese Writing, Fight in Japanese Writing, Fight in Asian Writing, Fight Ideograms, Chinese Fight symbols, Fight Hieroglyphics, Fight Glyphs, Fight in Chinese Letters, Fight Hanzi, Fight in Japanese Kanji, Fight Pictograms, Fight in the Chinese Written-Language, or Fight in the Japanese Written-Language.